music

Dance. If Ginger were writing this blog post tonight with this word in mind, I can guarantee it would have a completely different feel and would involve “Uptown Funk” in some way. What’s really played in the record player of my mind for a couple of days are waltzes, which are, I think, my...

One of the things I love about my job as a trainer at the computer store is I get to know people. Mine is the one position in the store that sees repeat customers because they have purchased a one-year membership that allows them to come in as often as they can make appointments....

Content. How you pronounce the word in your head as you read will determine the definition you infer. con-TENT in a state of peaceful happiness. satisfied with a certain level of achievement, good fortune, etc., and not wishing for more. CON-tent the things that are held or included in something. the amount of a...

The last two Sundays I have had the privilege of playing music in church with my friend Terry, who is one of the best harmonica players I have ever heard. Soon after we moved to Durham I was asked to sing at the sixtieth birthday party of one of our church members. I sang...

When I sent out the call for words that might be a part of my Lenten Lexicon, my friend Beth sent the word “linger.” I love the word. The online dictionary gave three definitions: stay in a place longer than necessary; spend a long time over (something); be slow to disappear or die. Since...

In my days years ago as a hospital chaplain, I spent a lot of time working around the word why. In the context of illness and terminal diagnoses, the word was neither helpful nor hopeful. Why did I get cancer? Why is my father dead? Any answer comes up lacking because it seems to...

I can’t claim to know very much about jazz. I did see Miles Davis perform once—and he played the entire show without ever speaking to the audience. He did speak on other occasions and said things like this: Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there. Sometimes you have to play a long time...

Going to the mall each day means being inundated with holiday music — well, the same ten songs. I thought tonight I might offer a soundtrack that has found me in these days. Talking about Patty Griffin’s “Mary” a couple of days ago set me to thinking. My list is by no means exhaustive,...

I was going back through some poems and found this one, so I spent a little time revising it and offer it anew tonight. Feel free to sing along. first lines I pulled into Nazareth was feeling ‘bout half past dead I don’t want to hear a love song doctor my eyes have seen...

The protests have been in my mind all day. Here are a few of the songs that have been the soundtrack in my mind. As we walk this Advent road, these are good tunes for the journey. The first is a John Fogerty song covered by Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy called “Wrote a...